2019 water budget gets thumbs up

HARARE residents and other stakeholders have welcomed the city council’s 2019 budget, saying it speaks to the problems facing the capital city today, mainly roads, water and sanitation.

The city allocated $51 856 200 to water and sanitation against a total budget of $472 248 300.

Water Alliance national chairperson Hildaberta Rwambiwa described this as a milestone.

“City of Harare’s capital budget stands at $125 981 600. The allocation on water and sanitation is 41,1 percent of the city’s capital budget. We are glad that City of Harare has presented a water budget,” she said.

“The water account is expected to contribute $100 million in 2019 and the allocation given to water and sanitation is a positive move by the City of Harare.”

“The price of water increased from 0,25c per cubic meter in 2017; to 0,70c per cubic meter in 2018, to the newly announced 0,83c per cubic meter in 2019. Whilst we appreciate the high costs on water purification and the tumbling bond note, we believe there are other methods to address the issue.”

Ms Rwambiwa however raised concern over the $4,5 million budget for pre-paid water meters saying the City of Harare should first present a report on the prepaid water meters pilot project before discussions on the issue.

“Our position as Community Water Alliance remains unchanged and we still maintain that pre-paid water meters on domestic premises are not the solution to water challenges,” she said.